Curated OER
Humourous Head Planter Spike: Ceramics Lesson
What a great activity. Kids create humorous ceramic character (heads) spikes to enliven a planter. Modern art is full of expressive and exaggerated forms and your class gets to create them out of clay. This would be a lovely activity to...
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My Alphabetical Autobiography
Design a pictorial autobiography using the letters of the alphabet. For each letter, writers select visual images that represent life events and interests. Younger writers add words or sentences of explanation while older writers narrate...
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Book Buddies
Students read a book and share a book review with an e-mail book buddy once a month. They word process the review, copy and paste into the e-mail for sharing.
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iPod Reporters
Students develop a topic for a class newspaper article and set up an interview with someone involved in the issue. They record the interview using an iPod with a voice recorder then use direct quotes for their article. As a whole...
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The Underground Railroad and The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. In this U.S. history lesson, students analyze documents from the Civil War era and describe the Fugitive Slave Law. Students view a video on YouTube about the...
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Drug Awareness: A Public Service Announcement
Students discuss whether they can make a difference in the fight against drugs.
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Podcasting and the News
Students participate in a class discussion about pod casting. They access a podcast and practice using such features as pause, rewind, and fast-forward. They listen to a news podcast and complete a graphic organizer about what they have...
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Writing: Revision
Looking for a activity on editing and revising punctuation? In this writing skills activity, young writers read a writing sample and identify the punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors in the selection.
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Holiday Writing Prompts
Students experience and practice their writing skills during the holiday season. They express themselves in a variety of ways including writing about a favorite part about the holiday break, what's the best gift you've ever gotten and...
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That's The Story!
Images can inspire powerful writing. Engage your class in narrative writing with the idea included here. Individuals each snap a digital photograph that includes action. The teacher then mixes these up and hands each class member a photo...
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Taking a Stand: Pros and Cons of Forest Fires
Students explain the components of fire, explain how forest fires impact man and the environment, analyze data in order to recognize areas that are at risk for forest fires, make recommendations based on research.
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Pharaoh Phonetics
Students explain the purpose of hieroglyphics and identify their role in communicating ideas. They research the history of writing and it's significance in ancient Egyptian life and identify the components of hieroglyphics.
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I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. In this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
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Publishing a Magazine
Students work collaboratively to create, edit, and publish their own student magazine. The lesson suggests the use of iPhoto, a word processor, iPages, and digital cameras for the creative process.
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Building a Volcano
Learners research volcanoes and then build one out of salt dough. Before the final step is completed, they find main ideas about volcanoes, write sequential steps to building, use correct grammar, to gain knowledge about them. There is...
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Prosthetic Party
Young scholars examine human anatomy by creating a prosthetic limb. In this medical engineering lesson, students view numerous images of prosthetics used in science today and define several medical terms associated with prosthetics....
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The End
Students listen as the teacher reads a story. Pictures are displayed as the teacher reads the story. Students jot down ideas for the story ending, and create an illustration to compliment their story. Student story endings and...
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The Brooklyn Museum of Art Newspaper
By working cooperatively, writers will create a newspaper about the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Each member will take on a different role representing various types of newspaper writers. They will discover the history, exhibits, special...
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African American Scientists
Students study several important African American scientists and explore their lives. They recreate scientists' experiences through journal entries.
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The Immigrant Experience In America
Students study immigration, Ellis Island, and tenement life from 1890 to 1924. Each student create an identity of an immigrant and write an essay in the first person. Essays describe what they found when they arrived in New York City.
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Text Structures in Science Writing
Middle schoolers recognize that science writing is organized in identifiable patterns called text structures. Understanding and using these different text structures help refine students' abilities to read and write in science.
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Let's Heat Things Up!
Students build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect. They explore the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming, and the implications of global warming theory for engineers, themselves...
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Susan B. Anthony, Activist
Students examine Susan B. Anthony's life and causes she worked for. In this Susan B. Anthony lesson, students work in groups to research the activist roles of Susan B. Anthony and decide if she was a philanthropist. Students look into...
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Rain Forest Reporters
Students research and write articles for an imaginary scientific magazine about rain forests. In this rain forest instructional activity, students research both ecosystems and magazine writing styles. They act as reporters and editors of...